Comments on: Take Five with “Top Chef Masters” Contender Suvir Saran, on His Upcoming Bay Area Appearance with the Food Galhttp://www.foodgal.com/2011/04/take-five-with-top-chef-masters-contender-suvir-saran-on-his-upcoming-bay-area-appearance-with-the-food-gal/
Musings on food, wine, laughter, and lifeSat, 01 Aug 2015 00:23:26 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.6By: Suvir Saranhttp://www.foodgal.com/2011/04/take-five-with-top-chef-masters-contender-suvir-saran-on-his-upcoming-bay-area-appearance-with-the-food-gal/comment-page-1/#comment-20741
Thu, 21 Apr 2011 23:15:13 +0000http://www.foodgal.com/?p=17996#comment-20741Well one could not be dull, and yet be dull. I hardly make many happy.
But I also do not live life thinking it is a popularity contest.

Happy being me, often maligned, mostly hated, and even ridiculed, but never at a loss for sleep when I do want to sleep. I sleep well, even the 2-3 hours I do. For I sleep knowing I did my best. It may not be what others wanted me to do.

Does not make sense to all. And often, I find myself alone, doing what makes sense to me, and being at a lonely place.

You did make me look good by asking me easy questions. Now only if you can guarantee that for our Q&A session and I will be a lucky man.

Come visit us in NYC. Promise to make the Okra for you myself. And better still, come visit the farm. Charlie and I will cook each meal for you, all ourselves. Hope you still chat with us after.

Please thank your friends on Facebook on my behalf. Am very new there and still learning the ropes.

Thanks Carolyn!

Suvir

]]>By: foodgalhttp://www.foodgal.com/2011/04/take-five-with-top-chef-masters-contender-suvir-saran-on-his-upcoming-bay-area-appearance-with-the-food-gal/comment-page-1/#comment-20739
Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:56:19 +0000http://www.foodgal.com/?p=17996#comment-20739Suvir: Dull is something you could never be — even if you tried.

By the way, my friends on Facebook have all been raving about your okra dish at Devi. Many say it’s the only okra they’ve ever liked!

I am so happy to fall upon this interview with the brilliant and talented chef, Suvir. Realizing what a down to earth, thoughtful guy he is certainly has made me love him even more! Watching Suvir on Top Chef Masters has been so wonderful. He is such a gifted chef with an awesome sense of humor, and I know I am gushing, and that is probably something he is likely rejects, being the humble guy he is, but allow me to indulge just a second.

I too am from New Delhi, as is Suvir, born there in 1970 and came to America (Ohio) in 1972. Back in my early teens I realized that if I cooked things well, like delicius chana masala or rajma (kidney beans) and made my rotis (Indian bread) nice and round, and thin, my very strict father would allow me a bit of freedom…perhaps bend my curfew a bit, or allow a friend to sleep over. When Suvir speaks of how people are not cooking what their grandmothers cooked, I can completely relate to that. Although I love Indian food more than any other variety, I really think the attempts of making Indian food all fusiony is a terrible thing that is happening to our food. It saddens me to see Tikka Masala frozen in Trader Joe’s…But, to each their own I suppose.

I am so happy to see Suvir is such a thoughtful chef that does not drown his food in garish garnishes or insipid spices, but rather lets the ingredients shine on their own. This is something that took a long time for me to learn as a cook.

His Your chana and potato chaat was so unexpected, refreshing and something new in that ten course meal last night. Everything else has been done before…he was robbed in my honest opinion. I wonder what his thought are on Greek Yogurt…I love it and it is a new discovery for me ,its so nice and thick and has such high protein that I love to use it and cut it with a little milk rather than making my own.

I wish Suvir was coming to Southern California, as I live in LA and San Diego and would love to meet him. You are very lucky to have the opportunity to enjoy his, I’m certain, delightful company.

Perhaps some day I will have to get out to his restaurant in NY. I am sure his food includes equal parts wicked wit and the saltiness of preposterous possibility, the bitters of human vices, the spiciness of quirky curiosity and a sharp sweetness that awakens a ray of sunshine slumbering way down deep in our memories of how food should taste.

Admittedly, when it comes to cooking shows, I tend to have a wandering eye, flipping through them for something that sparkles and catches my eye. This is not likely to happen with Top Chef masters, as long as Suvir is on it. So many chefs these days are rather lackluster or boringly always doing the latest trend (raw beef, raw fish, capers…) The artfulness of chefs seems to me, regretfully, to be waning. But while many chefs seem content mostly recycling recipes from the latest on the food channel, Suvir does not does not dance the latest culinary cha cha cha. I am sure the latest gastronomical craze would never sully the always unpredictable world of Suvir’s cooking.

Just from a brief glance at his restaurant’s menu, one can tell his cooking embodies the imaginative possibilities of the best old world recipes I have seen to date. And I love so much how his items (tamarind meatball, chaat, even the bugs) conjure up delightful scenarios steeped in subtleties that are uncannily unique, clever and look very delicious.

GREAT interview, thank you for sharing it, and…if you are so inclined, please check out my cooking show I did with my Gaylords (my gay landlords) earlier this year.

]]>By: Suvir Saranhttp://www.foodgal.com/2011/04/take-five-with-top-chef-masters-contender-suvir-saran-on-his-upcoming-bay-area-appearance-with-the-food-gal/comment-page-1/#comment-20736
Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:01:38 +0000http://www.foodgal.com/?p=17996#comment-20736Carolyn –
You are too kind to feature our interview and make me look so good.
Did I say all of this?
Did I manage to slip something into your water, so as to get you drunk and make you believe I said what you say I did?

How kind of you to frame questions in an way that even one as dull as me get inspired to share their opinions.

Your writing has been an inspiration for me and countless others. Thanks for sharing your musings, discoveries and your finds.

Look forward to spending some time chatting with you next week. Hope I do not make a fool of myself on stage. On stage – in front of an audience, your generosity will not save me. My fingers are crossed.

Suvir

]]>By: Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigellahttp://www.foodgal.com/2011/04/take-five-with-top-chef-masters-contender-suvir-saran-on-his-upcoming-bay-area-appearance-with-the-food-gal/comment-page-1/#comment-20717
Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:31:22 +0000http://www.foodgal.com/?p=17996#comment-20717I loved his quote about a voice demanding humanity being needed. So true. I think sometimes people can forget how to treat people with humanity.
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